Top 10 Things Only Adults Notice in Hey Arnold

Only adults notice these things in "Hey Arnold!" For this list, we’ll be looking at themes and references from this Nickelodeon show that you might have to be a little older to understand… unless you’re a sophisticated child like Arnold. Our countdown includes Woodstock, isolation, child neglect, and more! Which moments made YOU say, “Hey, I get that now?” Let us know in the comments!

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MsMojo is a leading producer of reference online video content of Top 10 Lists, Origins, Biographies, Commentary and more on Pop Culture, Celebrity, Movies, Music, TV, Film, Video Games, Politics, News, Comics, Superheroes. Your trusted authority on ranking Pop Culture.

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[lostinthereel]

Hey Arnold! will go down in history as one of the most impactful, endearing and thoughtful cartoons ever made. I have been waiting years for creator Craig Bartlett to bring his singular visionary talents back to television. I love seeing videos like this, putting Arnold back into the spotlight he deserves ❤

[trinaq]

Miriam constantly making smoothies constantly went over my head as a kid. I didn't realise that it was a metaphor for drinking until much later on!

[VortexFlims]

Hey Arnold was probably the very first Nick cartoon, that actually taught us a whole lot. Even real problems that other cartoons back then that would not tackle

[okamireader]

_Hey Arnold!_ was a cartoon ahead of its time and yet so subtly grounded in reality by its depiction of various concepts that most young people won't understand until they're old enough to in spite of some of the creative and outlandish antics, adventures, and actions done by the various characters. Even when I was a kid, I knew there was more to _Hey Arnold!_ than I was seeing and hearing, even tho I didn't get a lot of it back then. Now that I'm older, I see _Hey Arnold!_ with greater depth and understanding, and I praise the creators' work in making this one of Nickelodeon's most iconic and memorable cartoons

[BennSimonn]

Arnold didn't feel his parents abandoned him, he was worried that they died

[phantomrequim]

Helga's parents irritated me so much. They neglected her in favor of Olga all the time and even if they come to care about her in some episodes, it didn't last long.

[RapFanaticever]

I always felt bad for Helga cause her parents abandoned her and paid all the attention to Olga

[AliciaNyblade]

What I love so much about "Hey Arnold!" is that it introduced kids to so many different cultural and religious backgrounds without winking to the audience about it. "Harold's Bar Mitzvah", for instance, was what first taught me about that ceremony and I found it fascinating because I didn't know any Jewish people as a child. The Christmas special taught me about the Vietnam War. The episode where Ernie wanted to date that "large and lovely" fashion model was a great story about body diversity. So many examples. The characters' diversity felt organic because it was simply a part of them we learned about as we got to know them, as you would when meeting someone in real life. Nowadays, it often seems vice-versa: Characters, especially ones in kids' TV shows, are written around diverse traits and therefore come across as pandering rather than genuine representation.

[Omar-wqdz]

I wouldn’t say it’s an adults only thing, but I was impressed the show got away with saying the word “crap” in a few episodes, considering it was meant to be aimed at kids

[Shebeast]

Arnolds Christmas was a proper tear jerker but done so well

[candicehoneycutt]

To this show's credit, that sausage sign wasn't a dirty joke. It was from an episode about a food festival. It was literally an advertisement for sausage lmao

[Mustlovemusic]

Literally, my favorite TV show of all time!

[luisbarboza]

the show didn't need to go THIS hard, but it did, and we grew up to be sort of good people thanks to Arnold

[marianamendes]

I have been rewatching Hey Arnold as an adult, and I can see how amazing this show was. It tackled severe issues besides being amusing maybe too much information for kids. However, it was the reality of life and still is very relevant today, being quite universal. I love the Viatnan Christmas episode, and the Pigeon Man and Stoop Kid are very relevant to the world events of recent years. The cast was also excellent, with Dan Castellaneta(the same voice as Hommer Simpson) as Grandpa Phil, and the Jolly Olly guy is genius, as everything he does is gold.

[TheCommenterDragon]

Of course even animated shows like Hey Arnold would have their share of things that only adults would notice or pay attention too, I mean after all there's not a cartoon in history that doesn't have elements like that.

[zachtheowlhousefanhall]

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[brianleslie]

I’ll never look at that kitty book the same way again 😂😂

[ginaperkins]

I was 21 when the show first aired. I also watched it in reruns at 1am. This show was really cool and I liked seeing characters that came from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and (in the case of Helga dysfunctional families.)
I thought it made the characters much relatable. LOL.😅😅😅😅

[KT]

I used to watch this show as a kid and I only really remember the episodes when Chocolate boy tries to go cold turkey & Helga making a statue of Arnold using his discarded chewing gum and his own hat

[AzikBraev]

My favorite cartoon from the childhood. Even I'm 28 y. o.